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Topic: vegetarian menu (Read 10057 times)

My family and my fiance's family and our good friends are chockfull of food restrictions: vegan, Halal, allergen-friendly, cardiac, diabetic, etc, etc, etc. Miracle of miracles: We've found a caterer who can work with all those restrictions. But the menu she's devised is vegetarian. Think a nice variety of hearty Middle Eastern foods rather than the limp noodles and red sauce or browning salads so many halls turn out for vegetarian fare. For reasons to do with logistics (hello, Halal!) and money and every other thing, we will simply be unable to provide a meat option. Which is fine with me: I'm the vegan.

But is this something we need to "warn" people about ahead of time? I truly don't anticipate people will go hungry. But I know there are "where's the prime rib?" people out there too.

We put a link to our (vegan) caterer's website (which has a menu) on our wedding website. I'd also recommend having signs next to each dish that list the ingredients so if there are meat substitutes people know (some people are allergic to soy and it's easy to mistake tofu for something like chicken if it's cooked in sauce).

Can I come to your wedding? That sounds awesome. I'm a former vegan/vegetarian, now occasional meat-eater, and that sounds great to me. You know your guests best, though - if you know now that either side of the family or any of your friend groups tends to be more "meat and potatoes" or less than adventurous food-wise, then I'd mention it casually. Not like "I'm warning you, we are serving crazy food! No animal products!" but more like, "we found this great caterer! blahblahblah Middle Eastern" so they can have the information to absorb before the day.

We put a link to our (vegan) caterer's website (which has a menu) on our wedding website. I'd also recommend having signs next to each dish that list the ingredients so if there are meat substitutes people know (some people are allergic to soy and it's easy to mistake tofu for something like chicken if it's cooked in sauce).

I think this is a fantastic idea. I'm a meat eater and a bit picky, so often the reason I don't take food at a vegetarian supper is because it's so hard to tell what's in the dish if you're not used to vegetarian cooking.

I would feel so much more comfortable at a vegetarian wedding if I could a) look at the website in advance and google terms I don't know, or ask my vegetarian friends what a good "starter" food I might like is, and b) look at the signs next to dishes so I can try things that look tasty without any surprises.

Hurray! As a veg, I like the idea of link to menu and ingredients. Just because it fits one's dietary restrictions doesn't mean one is going to like it! Not everyone likes everything! From a similar perspective, I don't know much about raw vegan cooking, and I have to tell you, I have no idea what it might taste like from a list of ingredients. Every raw vegan event or restaurant I have ever been to has had wonderful food! I'd like to experiment with preparing it, but it requires an investment in equipment that I don't want to make until I have serious time to devote to its use. I might just add a disclaimer that lists nutritional values (whine, wah, where's the PROTEIN, which is now a euphemism for chunk of meat) as well as ingredients, so they can see there is protein right there, and also that you have tasted everything and it is fabulous!

The link to menus with ingredients is a great idea. A lot of us meateaters think of veg dishes as being light, such as salads. However, I'm a fan of mid-eastern food, so I know that a lot of their dishes are very hardy and satisfying. The menu will let people know that they won't need to eat ahead of time. LOL. Thinking of your mid-eastern menu has me drooling.

I think menu might bi nice, but not necessary. I think most important information about food for guests are about the "level" of food (full meal, snacks, coffee, light salads) and that is possible to inform without going into details. Other one is will guest able to eat something without fearing for their lives (as in is there going to be suitable food regarding allergies).

Niece and her DH did something similar at their Wedding. They used an Egyptian caterer who provided a nice variety of both vegan and non-vegan dishes. There was even an alternative vegan cake available. All the food was delicious and everyone seemed quite pleased.

The idea of making the menu available to your guests beforehand is very thoughtful.

My feeling is that if the food is good, there is no need to "warn" people about what is being served.

No matter what cuisine is being offered, those people with food allergies or intolerances will need to know the ingredients--gluten, for example, or soy, show up in a lot of foods you would never expect them to.

And even a "normal" meal with meat/chicken/fish might leave some guests going hungry. I have no medical issues with food. But I can't eat very rare beef; I just can't make myself choke it down, although I can eat well-done beef. So at my cousin's wedding where we were served a plated meal of a huge slab of nearly raw prime rib, six one-inch cubes of roasted potatoes and five green beans--well, it was a good thing I was seated with family who were willing to give me most of the rolls and a lot of their green beans, and who were willing to get that icky piece of meat off my plate. (And I was still able to eat the salad and the dessert, so I didn't walk away hungry.) I didn't complain about this at all--it just goes to show that *any* meal you offer might not suit the tastes or needs of an individual guest.

So unless it is customary in your circle to announce the menu in advance, I don't see any real need to publicize what food is being served. I also think that if there are guests who will not be happy with a vegetarian meal, you are opening yourself up to weeks or months of complaints and having to explain why you choose what you did. And to me, it makes it seem as if the vegetarian (or vegan) meal needs to be explained or apologized for, when vegetarianism is a perfectly valid eating choice.

With the menu in the OP, some people might not like the vegetarian aspect of it. Some other people might not like the Middle Eastern aspect of it. And that's going to happen no matter what food you serve.

Now, identifying what food is what during the meal--that's a great idea no matter what is being served, because there are so many people today with food allergies and intolerances. As long as the caterer can provide the ingredients for those people who need to ask about them, I don't see a problem in not "warning" people in advance.

Now, I also feel that adults who have to eat certain kinds/types of food, or eat at regular intervals, or both, need to be prepared, when attending an event where they have no control over the food, for the fact that they might not be served exactly what they need when they need it. And that, as adults, they need to make sure that they eat ahead of time or bring along something to eat in case that happens.

I don't think it's necessary, but it's a nice thing to do. DH and I provided the menu for our reception both on our wedding website and on our FB wedding page. A lot of people are not familiar with the cuisine of my ethnic heritage so I thought it would be nice to include what we were serving (we had a few American dishes also) and descriptions of the dishes, including a description of all ten of our wedding cakes (one two-tiered cake and nine table cakes). We knew we would have at least two super-picky eaters and one vegetarian; none of these individuals had a problem with our menu (or, at least, didn't make any issues known to us). The only person who had a problem with our menu (and made her discontent public on our FB wedding page) was ToxicSis. I deleted her comments twice before she stopped disparaging our menu. She even tried making a grand announcement to me not to include her in the count as she wouldn't be eating any of our food as it didn't meet her standards of excellence. I ignored and moved on (I don't know when she became a big drama queen who craves being the center of attention but I was planning our wedding and had no time or patience for her shenanigans); she tried to guilt me for having a menu that didn't have more vegetarian options. I thought she was welcome to take her unsolicited opinions and shove them where the sun doesn't shine, but I stayed civil for DH's and my mother's sake. Ultimately, she didn't attend our wedding (you could say she flaked since she indicated she planned on attending, but I never trusted her when she said she would and, actually, hoped that she would stay far far away).

Anyway, the idiotic, self-serving response from ToxicSis is the only issue I encountered from posting our menu and, frankly, I have never had any regrets about notifying our guests of our menu (and it did give them something to look forward to at our reception). However, had we not shared with them, it wouldn't have been rude to do that, either. If I were thinking you were going to have a vegetarian menu and I were a big meat eater, I'd appreciate the heads-up just so I knew what to expect.